“Did you see the waiter?” Golden Lily snickered and pointed to the earth pony mare who was just leaving their table. “She’s sure got a large flank.”
“Quit looking at their flanks.” Silent Moon pushed her. “And it’s waitress. Not waiter.”
Deciding to change the subject before things got out of hoof, Aeon asked, “So, how did you come by this place, Snowy?”
“Oh, this restaurant?” Snowy Skies said. “I was out the other night looking for somewhere to, uhm, have dinner, and I thought this place smelled good. The food, that is.”
“It’s not been rated by Zesty Gourmand,” Ruby pointed out. “Although, personally, places rated by Gourmand tend to all serve very similar things. You might be led into believing it’s a chain.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Snowy agreed. “This place had some nice food, though. I spent the evening with a food taster who wanted some company for his work that evening. Wanted a ‘pedestrian opinion’ of the food, was what he said.”
“And did you give it to him?”
“Yeah, I sure did!” Snowy said, looking pleased with herself. “I’m not going to say no to a free meal, am I?”
“Well, this place must be good if you’re willing to come back here and pay bits for a second meal,” Golden Lily smiled. “Even if there is no meat,” she finished quietly.
“Oh, but that’s the best part,” Snowy said earnestly. “This restaurant has some kind of gourmet chef from Griffonstone working here. He makes vegetarian meat.”
“Come again?” Silent Moon asked curiously.
“According to the food taster, the chef can make vegetables and greens taste like meat. It’s a unique dining experience that allows plant eaters to have a dip into the menus of Griffonstone and other meat-eating nations. It’s actually quite ambitious.”
Dahlia inclined her head. She had changed out of her maid’s outfit for the night. “It must have been of good quality to attract a repeat customer in you.”
Throughout the entire conversation, Spirit Wave had made only the smallest of contributions, with a couple of ‘yes’s, and ‘that’s right’s when pressed for her opinion. While her sister was a stubborn and impetuous oaf who generally refused to hear any other opinion, she was still her sister and Spirit couldn’t help but worry about her safety. She was out there somewhere, likely still recovering from the love magic that sent her flying in the first place. But that wasn’t the worrisome part. Chrysalis had still not replied to her letters and that was most troubling. Chrysalis was one of those that needed to have the last say, whether it made sense or not; silence was not in her nature and that got Spirit wondering what was going on here.
It was her stubbornness that landed her in this spot in the first place. If she had just stuck to the plan, They would’ve been relaxing in Canterlot Castle by now, ruling over all with no one the wiser, but no, she just had to go and reveal herself and mess everything up, albeit that had almost worked… If she hadn’t started singing.
Oh, my dear sister… If only you listen to your adviser half the time. You could’ve gone places. Many places.
At least she still had Oryctes and the twins with her, so at least they had some brains among them. Perhaps she could write a letter to one of them instead. They may be able to relay a message for her.
“Lily, don’t stick that up your nose!” Aeon’s voice punctured the bubble of her thoughts.
“But it’s so long and thin.” She removed two wooden sticks from her nostril and put it back on the table; a good portion of them was covered in slime. “They go all the way up your nose and clean everything out, as you can see.”
“They’re called chopsticks. They’re not meant for that, doofus.” Ruby Gleam cringed at the slime-coated utensils and stuck her tongue out. “They’re meant for eating with.”
“I suppose we’ll have to get you new ones,” Dahlia said rather calmly.
“That waiter is going to be in for a shock when she comes back.” Lily grinned.
“Waitress.”
Spirit Wave felt a hoof tap her shoulder and she turned to see Aeon looking at her. “Mistress, are you alright? You don’t seem yourself tonight.”
“When are we ever ourselves?” Ruby Gleam remarked.
“Ruby…” Dahlia warned.
“Sorry, sorry,” Ruby Gleam muttered, reaching for a glass of water to occupy herself with.
“Is it about the guard operation?” Aeon continued. “The one for the queen.”
Spirit Wave looked dourly at the table. “Dahlia, when did you say they would be sending that patrol out?”
“Tomorrow night, is what I heard,” Dahlia answered dutifully.
Spirit Wave let out a small sigh. “Then there’s still time to warn my sister. I should get back to the spa and-”
“Mistress, with all due respect,” Aeon interrupted. “We are here for dinner. Your sister can wait an hour. You’ve been missing meals since the wedding, and I’ll be condemned if I don’t get you to stop starving yourself.”
Spirit Wave looked as though she wanted to protest, but then sat back and relented. “You’re right. And what kind of pony would I be if I didn’t listen to those who work under me?”
“That’d make you just like your sister,” Ruby said in a low voice behind her glass of water.
There was a brief distraction as the food arrived. The server brought it all on a trolley, changed out Lily’s chopsticks rather reluctantly, and before long, all of the spa ponies were tucking into dinner.
“Hey, it does taste like meat,” Silent Moon commented as she cut into her chop.
“I know, right?” Snowy Skies agreed as she got into her steak and hayfries. “Hard to believe it’s all actually plants.”
“My compliments to the chef,” Dahlia chewed a small mouthful of food, looking pleased.
Aeon didn’t take his eyes off Spirit Wave until she levitated up a fork and took a bite of her dinner. Only once his mistress was done chewing did he start to eat his own meal.
“This is rather good,” Aeon’s boss admitted, taking another bite of the faux meat, after grinding some pepper onto it. “I will have to remember this place.”
The seven ponies sat there in the restaurant as the lights dotting Restaurant Row flickered on. There were many other ponies walking the streets, enjoying the night air and ducking into shops to browse and buy.
“You know, Canterlot’s ponies here adapt rather quickly,” Snowy Skies remarked. “Not even a week ago, the city was almost overrun by changelings. Not that you’d be able to tell from anypony on the streets tonight; they seem as happy as ever.”
“Well, what would be the point of moping on about it?” Dahlia asked reasonably. “Crisis is over, everything can go back to the way it was before.”
“If only things could go back to the way it was before for us,” Ruby Gleam muttered as she drank from her glass of water.
“We’re all trying our best, Ruby,” Aeon said evenly. “And things have been going well for us since the invasion. We’ve had the usual supply of customers and guests at the spa.”
Ruby said nothing but took another bite of her dinner.
“In any case,” Aeon continued. “The new shelf for the cocktail glasses arrived, so I think I’ll get onto assembling it once we’re done here. Shouldn’t take more than an hour or so.”
“That’s good,” Dahlia agreed. “The lobby has been looking empty without that case.”
The rest of the meal passed on by with only small talk from other staff members talking about work and what they planned to do in their off time. It all felt very natural, and nopony would suspect that it was all very carefully rehearsed, one conversation out of hundreds that they had practiced for such an occasion, with only recent events substituted in for older ones.
After paying and leaving a generous tip for services rendered, the seven spa ponies found themselves back on the streets of Restaurant Row.
“That was nice,” Silent Moon sighed. Then she said brightly, “Who wants to get dessert?”
“I’ll go with you!” Golden Lily waved her foreleg in the air. “Anypony else?”
“I should put that cocktail glass case together,” Aeon gestured with his head back in the direction of the spa. “You girls have fun, though.”
“I’m going back, too,” Spirit Wave seemed to be feeling better after having had a decent meal. “I have a letter to write.”
“Ah,” Ruby Gleam nodded sagely. “Then I’m going with Lily and Moon. A night out on the town sounds like a treat.”
“Just be careful,” Aeon stressed. “We don’t know what security they might’ve beefed up after that meeting Dahlia overheard.”
“Beefed up,” Lily snickered. “I get it.”
Leaving Ruby, Lily, and Moon to see to their dessert, Spirit Wave and her three remaining employees made their way back to the Metamorphosis. As Aeon had said, there was a crate in the corner that held the pieces to the cocktail glass case, which the unicorn quickly opened and began to read the instructions while he levitated the parts out of the crate with his magic.
Dahlia mumbled something about getting an early night’s rest and disappeared into her room, leaving Spirit Wave and Snowy Skies to their own devices.
“I… should probably go help Aeon with putting the cocktail glasses on the shelf once it’s done,” Snowy said to her boss once they were in the kitchen. “Good luck with your, ah, letter. I hope your sister heeds your words.”
“Me too, Snowy. Me too.”
Spirit Wave watched until Snowy Skies had left the kitchen, then sighed dejectedly and trotted back to her room. Activating the flameless lanterns to illuminate the space, she went over to her writing desk and sat down before it. Then she levitated a sheet of paper out and her favorite pen.
Dear sister, She began. Then the unicorn frowned and crumpled up the paper, taking a new sheet.
Your majesty,
You have not replied to my previous letter. I will assume that you have received it and are merely remaining silent to spite me. I am writing with all urgency. The leaders of Equestria intend on pursuing you and bringing you to their so-called justice. They plan to send out a crack reconnaissance squad to your last known location tomorrow night. I urge you, either quickly vacate the area or find a place to hide. We are good at hiding, so that should be no problem for you. Please take my advice into consideration, if only this once. I do not want to have to storm Canterlot Castle if you happen to be captured.
Capping her pen, the spa owner lit her horn and sent the letter on its way. Hopefully Chrysalis would read this one and take into consideration her words. Tomorrow she would take a little visit over to the barracks of Canterlot Castle and see just what kind of ponies they would be sending out after the changeling queen. Hopefully by then Chrysalis would have replied.
For now, she had to wait for all her staff to come back, then she could lock up the spa for the night and go to sleep.
The next day passed as was standard for such a luxurious and renowned place of relaxation. They received and pampered a passel of mares and a stallion. By the time it came to close the spa for the day, the entire staff of the Metamorphosis were feeling quite accomplished, not to mention well-fed.
“Good work, everypony,” Spirit Wave said as she flipped the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ on the front doors. “We’re getting back into the swing of things around here.”
“All thanks to your leadership,” Aeon purred as he took off his bow tie and put it inside his desk.
Ruby Gleam trotted out into the lobby and grinned. “Yeah, your sister could learn a few things from you.”
Spirit Wave considered this praise for a second. “Well, it’s not all just me. Running this spa is a team effort; I couldn’t do it on my own. And I’m sure that in my own hooves, my sister would be more than capable.”
There was a moment of awkward silence among the spa ponies.
“Wow,” Ruby said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know how you can say that with a straight face, mistress.”
“Ruby…” Aeon warned.
The pegasus waved her hoof as if chasing a fly away. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry, but I really do not agree with the idea that Chrysalis could run a spa better than us. She can’t even run her empire, that wench.”
Aeon looked as though he was about to say something to reprimand his colleague, but then closed his mouth and sighed. “Let’s just get the place cleaned up for the evening.”
Silent Moon nudged Ruby Gleam as they went back into the depths to put away their uniforms. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right. But just try to keep the criticism somewhat constructive, okay?”
“Okay, okay…” Ruby Gleam sulked. “But if Queen Chrysalis would just listen to us, to her closest advisor for once, her own sister, we might actually get somewhere!”
“You wanted to take over Canterlot?” Golden Lily asked curiously. The other members of the staff looked on with interest as well.
“Well, that was the objective!” Ruby said, flustered. “We had the perfect plan set up to conquer the city in one fell swoop, and our esteemed queen messed it all up. You can’t blame me for being a little salty about that.”
There was a general murmuring of assent, but the subject was dropped.
Meanwhile in the lobby, Spirit Wave drew the curtains around the front entrance, blocking out the lowering sun. She licked her lips and concentrated. This was going to take some tricky shifting. She had already informed Nahara of her plan, and in preparation, the castle maid Dahlia had left a couple of doors unlocked for her mistress.
After making sure the spa was all locked up tight, Spirit Wave hurried to the back door and slipped out into the pre-evening light. Nopony paid her a second glance as she trotted purposefully towards Canterlot Castle’s guard barracks.
Once Spirit Wave was within a good stone’s throw of the entrance to the barracks, she slipped into an alcove between a restaurant and an observatory and waited in the shadows.
She did not have to wait long.
From her hiding place, she saw a familiar mare in a maid’s uniform exit through a side door in the palace. Dahlia presented her pass to the guard on duty and left the castle grounds. Spirit Wave watched as the maid cantered casually over to the alley where she was waiting and, after surreptitiously checking to see that nopony was watching, disappeared inside.
“Mistress,” Dahlia murmured with a small bow to Spirit. “From my scouting and eavesdropping around the castle, I have deduced that the team being sent out to apprehend the changeling queen will be leaving in about two hours off the eastern launch pad. I left the doors there unlocked, but in the case that somepony locked them again, I also managed to procure an extra ring of keys and hid them in the second flowerpot in the main entryway.”
“Good work, Dahlia,” Spirit Wave congratulated. “Now all I need is your pass, and then we can get this show on the street.”
Dahlia levitated her pass from her pocket and passed it to the spa owner. Then there were two flashes of emerald flame and where the spa owner had been standing, there was now the castle maid’s form, and vice versa.
‘Dahlia’ pocketed the pass and nodded to the new ‘Spirit Wave’.
“Head back to the Metamorphosis,” Dahlia ordered. “I’ll be back as soon as I gather enough information.”
Spirit Wave nodded obediently and trotted out from the alley, taking a meandering route back to the spa so as not to draw any unwanted attention.
Meanwhile, the new Dahlia waited for five minutes before also leaving the shadowy alley. Except this time she put on a distressed sort of expression and jogged back to the castle grounds.
The guardspony in golden armor standing watch saw her approaching.
“Oh. Dahlia,” He said as she came closer. “I thought your shift was over for the day.”
“Sorry to bother you,” Dahlia said sincerely. “But I think I left my wallet in the break room. May I go and look for it, please? I don’t have enough bits on me for dinner.”
The guard smiled lazily. “Yeah, sure. Just, you know the rules about letting anypony into the castle as of late.”
Levitating her pass from her pocket, Dahlia showed it to the guard, who gave it a once-over.
“It’s all an extra bother, these passes,” he said as he gave Dahlia an approving nod. “But orders are orders. I mean, as if we’re supposed to memorize everypony in the castle. Why, I can barely remember everypony in my unit.”
“Ponies are just high-strung after the attempted invasion,” Dahlia said understandingly. “But I know what you mean. The threat is gone, and it’s not as if the changelings are in any shape to try sneaking into Canterlot again, are they?”
The guard chortled. “No, I suppose not. Go on now, take as long as you need. I hope you find your wallet!”
Dahlia curtseyed and after putting her pass back into her pocket, went inside.
Once the door shut behind her, Dahlia went over to the side of the main entryway where there were rows of multicolored flowers in ornamental pots. She lit her horn and lifted the flowers out of the second pot. Just as promised, there was a ring of keys inside. Dahlia picked it up and slipped it into her pocket quietly.
“Now to make our way over to the eastern launchpad…” the maid muttered to herself.
She had a fairly good idea of how the castle was laid out, borne from the many reconnaissance runs she had made in preparation for the invasion. Of course, sneaking into the castle had been much easier then; there had been so many ponies coming and going to prepare for the wedding that a stranger wasn’t given so much as a second glance. She had been disguised as an interior decorator back then.
Underneath her placid face, Psithyra scowled. All that planning and scheming and plotting, all those sleepless nights and long days, all to come tumbling down at the last minute due to her sister’s ego, it was enough to make anypony furious.
But however turbulent her real self was, Psithyra refused to let it show in her persona. Dahlia wore a bright and innocent expression befitting her station as she trotted about the castle, passing guard patrols and other servants. The castle maid offered polite greetings to those she met, presenting her pass when asked for it and giving her same wallet story.
Entering the eastern wing of the castle, Dahlia found the doors to the launchpad carefully watched by two stallions in Lunar guard armor. They looked as alert as ever, their shifts probably only starting at most an hour ago. This one was going to be a little tricky. Maids weren’t permitted on the launchpads, so flashing her pass wasn’t going to get her anywhere.
Ducking back around the corner, with a flash of green fire, Dahlia no longer stood there. Instead, there was another Lunar guard stallion private. He knocked some of his own armor askew as if he had been in a fight, then he dashed out from around the corner.
“Sergeant! Sergeant!” he panted, skidding to a halt in front of the two legitimate guardsponies. “Help! I think I met a changeling!”
The sergeant immediately perked up. “What? Where?!” his partner bristled. Under her false face, Psithyra smiled.
“I was patrolling as usual, then I was knocked out from behind!” The guard who Psithyra was disguised as babbled. “When I came to, my pass was gone! It must be a changeling!”
The two guards looked at each other, then one of them galloped off, likely going for backup or to alert someone of higher authority.
“Get yourself looked at, private,” the other guard told Psithyra. “You look like you got socked real good.”
“Yes sir,” Psithyra’s disguise said. “I’ll just take a shortcut through the launchpad back to the barracks.”
The other guardspony unlocked the door for him and gestured with a wing to go on through.
And just like that, Psithyra was in. Even with all the heightened security, these ponies were still easy to fool as ever.
The term ‘launchpad’ was really somewhat of a misnomer. It was actually a sort of tunnel-like structure that relied on the natural wind currents to propel airborne ponies out into the sky. Runway was probably a better name for it, but then again, what did she know about it anyway? She was only probably the smartest changeling in existence.
Once out of sight, she had taken the appearance of a different Lunar guard, this time one of a batpony mare sergeant. There was a lot of activity on the runway, she noticed. A gaggle of ponies in lightweight flying armor were gathered around the middle. There were also a small group of ponies holding expensive looking cameras, who were wearing visitor’s passes around their necks on lanyards. She had to admire their tenacity; they would do anything for a scoop.
Under the pretense of tidying up a barrel of spears and harnesses, the changeling princess listened in on their conversation.
“Could this finally be the end to the changeling threat to Equestria?” one pony said, looking through photos on her camera. “Find out on tomorrow’s news!”
“You sound like a newscaster. Maybe you should take it up.” A stallion with glasses nudged her.
Another pony wearing a fedora and holding a notepad was interviewing one of the batponies. Out of the corner of her eye, Psithyra noticed that this one was more heavily armored than the others, although the body under it didn’t seem like it had much muscle on it. And upon closer inspection, the armor looked a couple of sizes too small.
“Lance Corporal Satin Breeze,” The fedora-wearing pony began. “Is it true that the Queen of the Changelings is somewhere out in the badlands?”
“We believe that to be so,” the mare replied with a nod. “We believe she has taken refuge out there and that she would be recovering from such an attack after Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor repelled her and her forces from Canterlot.”
“And what will happen should the squadron find the Changeling Queen?” The journalist asked.
“That’s classified,” Satin Breeze replied apologetically. “But I’m sure that whatever happens, my sister and her team will be able to handle it accordingly. Sergeant Breeze is a capable individual and a great leader. I have every confidence she will see them through.”
As the journalists’ questions drifted away from anything relevant, Psithyra risked getting a little closer to inspect just how many ponies were being sent out as well as their armaments. Anything, even the smallest detail, could be important to her when it came to giving advice. If Chrysalis was willing to act on it, that was.
Psithyra picked up a hoof-full of short javelins that were meant to the thrown from the air and carried them over to another barrel that was nearer to her objective. As she shuffled them around and began rearranging the spears to all point one way, she took stock of the ponies who were being sent to look for her sister.
There were eight of them, all of them batponies. They were standing in formation on the side of the runway, out of the way of anypony who might need to use the wind tunnel before they did.
All of them were decked out in Lunar guard armor and helmets, with swords sheathed at their sides. The lead batpony had on a red scarf around her neck, just above her armor. Psithyra didn’t know they were allowed to stylize their armor with additional objects, but it wasn’t important, so she didn’t care.
“All right, troops!” a loud voice barked. A serious looking batpony marched out from another door. This one had a captain’s stripes on her armor. Psithyra recognized her as Captain Glimpse, the current head of the Lunar Guard. “Atten-tion!”
The eight guards stood to attention in a second and were already lined up.
“Final check before departure!” Captain Glimpse shouted. “Keep on your wingpony and keep your eyes peeled! While the Changeling Queen might not have the same power as she did during the invasion, she is still a wily and dangerous creature! Do not let your guards down anywhere! Remember your secret questions in case you get separated. Do you understand?!”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!” the assembled batponies roared back.
“Good! Now, with a good tailwind like what we’re getting, you should reach the badlands by tomorrow morning. However! I do not want you to start searching until you’ve had some rest! Remember, always keep at least two ponies on watch!” Glimpse instructed. “Keep your swords loose in their sheaths,” she marched over to the front of the group. “Sergeant Breeze, you’re up! Good luck on your mission. Lunaspeed!”
As a well-oiled unit, the eight batponies stepped out onto the main part of the runway. The wind from the tunnel buffeted them slightly, but they acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. In unison, they all opened their wings to catch the gale.
Then two by two, they shot off into the dimming sky. Carried by the tailwind, the eight ponies soon became nothing but specks in the sunset.
Ah, chitin. This isn’t good. Psithyra decided that she had to get out of here quickly and pen another letter to her sister. She had about twelve hours to do so, but here she was stuck deep in enemy territory, and with the retrieval team away, someone was bound to notice her eventually. She made sure to especially keep out of sight of the captain. As Captain of the Lunar Guard, she would surely know each and every pony under her.
Slinking to the back, Psithyra crouched under a trio of barrels and as she passed, there was a quick flash of green light and emerging past the barrels was a green unicorn mare carrying a camera.
She was quick to blend into the news crowd, already pretending to take pictures alongside them of Lance Corporal Satin Breeze.
It was going well, and the news group soon left the eastern launchpad behind. However, this posed a new problem. Psithyra had no idea where the ponies were headed to next, and if they passed a checkpoint, she was done for. She would need to slip away before that happens and that wasn’t a hard thing to do, with the ponies all yakking about what they were going to put on the news.
True to that, they didn’t see Psithyra slip away from them after they left the launchpad doors behind. Momentarily safe, she flashed back into Dahlia and trotted down a hallway that she knew would lead to the royal gardens. From there she could get back to the spa with minimal guard resistance; after all, what kind of security risk was a garden?
Surely enough, the doors to the royal gardens were unguarded. Shut, but unsupervised. It was locked, but thankfully, she had been granted a set of keys by the actual Dahlia, which was something she had to thank her for later.
It took a few tries to get the right key, but eventually Dahlia was able to slip out into the flower-riddled entryway to the royal gardens. The sun was almost completely gone by now, and it would be much easier to escape in the dark of the night. All she had to do was-
“Oh, Dahlia. I didn’t expect to see you here,” a stallion’s voice came.
Dahlia froze. She turned to look at who had spoken, berating herself internally for not tasting around before setting hoof out into the open.
It was the guard who had let her in at the beginning.
“Hello, sir,” Dahlia said pleasantly. The guardspony was still wearing his armor, but he had removed his helmet. That was something at least; if force had to be used, she would aim there.
“Did you find your wallet?” the guard asked, coming closer.
Dahlia nodded affirmatively. "I did. What are you doing out here?"
"Just taking a walk," the guard shrugged. "My shift ended a little while ago and I like to have a stroll in the gardens if I have the time. It's very peaceful here."
“It certainly is,” Dahlia agreed. She began to walk towards the exit. “Well, I’ll leave you to your walk…”
Dahlia moved to pass the guard, but he extended a wing and blocked her. Under Dahlia’s face, Psithyra tensed. If her cover had been blown, then she would have to fight to kill or silence. The changeling princess subconsciously began charging a stun spell at the base of her horn.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Dahlia,” the guard said in a low voice. “Earlier today, there was an unconfirmed sighting of a changeling.”
“R-Really?” Dahlia acted surprised. “What happened? Why is it unconfirmed?”
The guardspony looked serious. “Some Lunar guard got clocked on the head by somepony and had his pass stolen. I think he’s in the barracks now, but we still haven’t caught who did it. You’ve been working here for over twenty years now, so I wanted to tell you so you’d be on your guard. Nopony else needs to fall prey to those shapeshifting bugs.”
“Well, thank you for telling me,” Dahlia said seriously. “I expect they’ll be scouring the castle tonight for this mysterious changeling. As for me, I’m going home and having dinner.”
“Would you like me to walk you home?” The guard offered.
But Dahlia shook her head good-naturedly. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. I’ll be fine, and thank you for the warning.”
The guard bade Dahlia good night and went off deeper into the gardens while the castle maid walked up the steps and out onto the bustling evening Canterlot streets.
Underneath the neutral face of Dahlia, Psithyra smiled a wicked little grin.